May offers Police more powers

Police were offered more powers and discretion to get on with their jobs as part of a "radical" new deal by Home Secretary Theresa May.

The Tory Cabinet member said the new Government will "do things differently" by scrapping Whitehall interference, ditching paperwork and removing targets.

She said she is "not interested in running the police" and wants to give officers across England and Wales professional responsibility and freedom.

But in her first speech since being appointed last week, Mrs May said officers must accept local accountability through elected police commissioners in return.

And she warned the Police Federation annual conference in Bournemouth that the Home Office and police must "bear a fair share of the burden" as sacrifices are made to tackle the budget deficit.

Mrs May said pay and pensions for police and staff will undergo a "full review" as the Government attempts to cut waste and inefficiency in a bid to protect the frontline.

She said: "I want to give the service back its professional responsibility, getting rid of the centralised bureaucracy that wastes money, saps morale and crushes innovation.

"I want to free the men and women of our police forces to do what they are trained to do, want to do and the public expects them to do - make our society safer.

"But in return for this new freedom, the police service must accept a transfer of power over policing from Whitehall to communities by giving local people a real say over how their streets are policed."

Mrs May added that the Government will respect and trust police, restore pride in the job and "bring some common sense back to policing".